REPORT: Athletics Wicklow Off-Road 24 (and more trails and hill results…)

by glendaloughac, posted in Uncategorized

With a heavy heart we had to hand back the Athletics Wicklow Off-Road Championship trophy to the first winners: Parnell AC. We fielded 30 runners (the same as last year) and they did their best collecting the highest medal haul (20) but our 7 gold medals fell one short of Parnell who collected 8 (and 12 medals total).

Before we delve too deep into the championship, we also have two IMRA races to report on from this weekend along with ‘4 missed races’ from previous weeks.

MT LEINSTER HALF-MARATHON AND GALTYMORE

Both the Leinster Half-Marathon League and the Irish Championships concluded this weekend and we had Aoife O’Brien and Alan Kennedy competing at Mt. Leinster and with some success as Aoife O’Brien won with nearly 7 minutes to spare on the nearest woman. This was enough to secure the overall win in the league ahead of Anna Cronin (3rd on the day) and Aoife’s first outright win in a non-relay IMRA race.

For Alan Kennedy it was also a crucial day in the league: by finishing 2nd in the M55, he secured his overall win in the league in that category.

RESULT
1. Rory Campbell () 2:12:39
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
7. Aoife O’Brien 2:49:54 (1st woman, 1st F35, LEAGUE winner)
24. Alan Kennedy 2:32:48 (2nd M55, LEAGUE winner)

Graham Bush – doing his regular ‘double race weekend’ – finished 23rd in a field of 62 at the Irish Championship finish on the toughest course of the series: Galtymore and was third M55. Joe Lalor also competed winning the M70. This confirmed Graham as 2nd in this year’s M55 championship with Joe Lalor M70 champion.

RESULT
1. Matthew McConnell () 1:23:07
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
23. Graham Bushe 1:50:04 (3rd M55, 2nd in Championship in category)
56. Joe Lalor 2:23:04 (1st M70, Irish Champion)

SEAHAN AND OTHER MISSING RACES

A few results were missed – firstly Eoin Phelan’s runs on Brandon Half, Tory Hill, Mullaghmeen and Seahan meaning he now leads the ‘Most Prolific’ with a staggering 42 races in 8 months!

We missed the Seahan results for all our racers which included also Graham, Torben, Alan, Jeff , Joe and Keith. Our club runners have now done an average of 2 races per day in 24!

RESULT
1. Enda Cloake (Slaney Olympic) 0:46:56
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
18. Graham Bushe 0:56:42 (2nd M55)
28. Torben Dahl 1:00:18
44. Alan Kennedy 1:04:44
56. Jeff Swords 1:05:55
74. Eoin Phelan 1:11:23
116. Joe Lalor 1:21:32 (1st M70)
131. Keith Mulvey 1:16:32

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

The gun goes… (photo: MyrunResults)

Larger teams from several clubs – including Bray Runners and Lakeshore and Benedicts – meant gold medals were spread around more. We had won 5 gold medals in the 20 k last year (versus 2 this year) and where we had taken three team golds in the 10k (F35, M35 and M50) only our O50 men retained their title with our other four teams all taking silver. The margins were narrow with our women losing out to Benedict’s by a mere 10 seconds to St. Benedicts (who took their first gold medals in the championship

Paul Allan, Graham Bush and Blaise Kinsella

Noteable successes were the clean sweeps of the F40 podium (taken by Catherine, Rachel and Donna for the second year running) and the M40 podium in the 20 km race (taken by Louis Byrne, Torben Dahl and John Conway).

DERRYBAWN WOODS 10 KM (ATHLETICS WICKLOW OFF-ROAD – SHORT)

Start of the 10k (Kevin Ferguson, Paul Duffy, Graham Bush, Paul Allen and Richard Costelloe in front row)

Richard Costelloe was yellow shirt across the line for the second year running in 46:16 with Graham Bush continuing his strong resurgence only 47 seconds behind (and 36s faster than last year) and similarly doughty o50 Richard Allan another 28 seconds back. This is the first time we have had three men under 47 minutes (all 5 sub-47 min times have been run by the three aforementioned gentlemen). Paul Duffy came agonisingly close with a course best of 47:07. Despite running semi-injured Gavin Kennedy was next taking 3 minutes off his 2023 time.

Richard Costelloe on the final km (photo: Lindie Naughton)

Blaise and Kevin Ferguson were either side of Gavin and both contributed to the Male Senior team taking the Silver with Edson Ferreira as the third scorer in his championship debut for us.

Catherine Devitt flanked by St. Benedict men (photo: Lindie Naughton)

Catherine Devitt was first woman home once again in 48:17 improving on last year’s time by over 30 seconds and lowering the women’s club record on the course. She was followed by Rachel having a great run – knocking 1:14 of her 2023 mark with Donna Quinn third scorer for the master’s women’s team.

Anthony Breen, Angus Tyner and Rachel Wisdom (photo: Lindie Naughton)

Anthony Breen showed remarkable consistency – finishing 10 seconds faster than his 2023 time. Colm Kenna reduced his PB for the cousre by over three minutes.

Aoife Joyce and Colm Kenna (photo: Lindie Naughton)

Aoife Joyce won the F45 category and together with Siobhan Brennan (2nd in the F50 category taking over 2 minutes off her best) helped our female seniors (Grace, Kate and Fiona) take team silver behind the rampant Parnell side led home by women’s winner Sile O’Byrne.

Grace Curham and Kate Flynn (photo: Lindie Naughton)
RESULT
1. Barry Minnock (Tullamore Harriers) 0:39:34
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
6. Richard Costelloe 0:45:29 (1st M45, Team Silver M35+)
12. Graham Bushe 0:46:16 (1st M55, Team Gold M50)
15. Richard Allan 0:46:44 (2nd M50, Team Gold M50)
16. Paul Duffy 0:47:07 (Team Silver O35+)
21. Blaise Kinsella 0:47:42 (Team Silver MS)
22. Gavin Kennedy 0:48:03 (3rd M45, Team Silver O35+)
23. Kevin Ferguson 0:48:04 (Team Silver MS)
25. Catherine Devitt 0:48:17 (1st F40, Team Silver O35))
27. Angus Tyner 0:49:34 (3rd M55, Team Gold M50)
29. Rachel Wisdom 0:50:04 (2nd F40, Team Silver O35)
37. Anthony Breen 0:51:18 (3rd M50)
39. Chris willoughby 0:51:48
43. Donna Quinn 0:52:45 (3rd F40, Team Silver O35)
49. Edson Ferreira 0:53:48 (Team Silver MS)
52. Richard Kieran 0:54:10
54. Aoife Joyce 0:54:24 (1st F45, Team Silver FS)
58. Colm Kenna 0:54:46 (Team Silver FS)
61. Grace Curham 0:55:48 (Team Silver FS)
69. Siobhan Brennan 0:57:47 (2nd F50, Team Silver FS))
73. Kate Flynn 0:58:50
116. Fiona Smyth 1:09:36
20 km start (Louis Byrne, John Conway and Torben Dahl)

RUN THE RIDGE 20 KM (ATHLETICS WICKLOW OFF-ROAD LONG)

Kevin Doherty

It was a case of Bray vs Glendalough to a large degree in this year’s 20 km and we swept the podium in the M40 category and packed well in the process. Louis Byrne – fresh off his 12-hour race – was our first man home followed by ‘Mr Run the Ridge Torben Dahl’ 1 spot back (Torben holds the club record at 1:32 and has also run the 2nd fastest time of 1:43:01) and winner of the o45 category. John Conway (who led our charge in 2023) was next in 1:48:01 with Kevin Doherty a few more minutes back taking a bronze medal in his championship debut. Then we had Jack Moore (in a personal best on the course), Eoin, Ben, Andy and Dave Lawless arriving.

Jack Moore
RESULT
1. Gavin Kelly (Clane AC) 1:29:40
——GLENDALOUGH AC RUNNERS————-
13. Louis Byrne 1:46:12 (1st M40)
14. Torben Dahl 1:46:35 (1st M45)
16. John Conway 1:48:01 (2nd M40)
25. Kevin Doherty 1:51:19 (3rd M40)
30. Jack Moore 1:54:45
38. Eoin Phelan 1:59:12
51. Ben Lewis 2:06:56
61. Andy Walker 2:10:21
63. Dave Lawless 2:11:01

PERFORMANCES OVER THE YEARS – RANKED

Richard Kieran

10k

AthleteDateTime
Richard Costelloe19/08/20230:43:57 (Club Record)
Graham Bushe20/08/20220:45:05
Richard Costelloe17/08/20240:45:29
Graham Bushe17/08/20240:46:16
Richard Allan17/08/20240:46:44
Torben Dahl20/08/20220:46:48
Graham Bushe19/08/20230:46:52
Diarmuid Kavanagh20/08/20220:47:03
Paul Duffy17/08/20240:47:07
Angus Tyner19/08/20230:47:16
René Borg20/08/20220:47:23
Paul Duffy20/08/20220:47:25
Marcus Murphy19/08/20230:47:35
Blaise Kinsella17/08/20240:47:42
Aran Lynham19/08/20230:47:56
Gavin Kennedy17/08/20240:48:03
Kevin Ferguson17/08/20240:48:04
Paul Duffy19/08/20230:48:15
Catherine Devitt17/08/20240:48:17 (Club Record)
Catherine Devitt19/08/20230:48:51
Catherine Devitt20/08/20220:48:51
Angus Tyner20/08/20220:49:31
Angus Tyner17/08/20240:49:34
Rachel Wisdom17/08/20240:50:04
Kevin Ferguson20/08/20220:50:06
Anthony Breen20/08/20220:50:12
Anthony Breen17/08/20240:51:18
Rachel Wisdom19/08/20230:51:19
Gavin Kennedy19/08/20230:51:22
Anthony Breen19/08/20230:51:28
Donna Quinn19/08/20230:51:40
Chris willoughby17/08/20240:51:48
Donna Quinn17/08/20240:52:45
Aoife Joyce27/11/20210:53:15
Paul Duffy27/11/20210:53:15
Richard Costelloe27/11/20210:53:20
Edson Ferreira17/08/20240:53:48
Richard Kieran17/08/20240:54:10
Aoife Joyce17/08/20240:54:24
Yvonne Brennan19/08/20230:54:41
Colm Kenna17/08/20240:54:46
Eoin Kennedy19/08/20230:55:27
Grace Curham17/08/20240:55:48
Siobhan Brennan17/08/20240:57:47
Colm Kenna19/08/20230:58:07
Kate Flynn17/08/20240:58:50
Claire Thompson19/08/20230:58:51
Sarah Foster19/08/20230:59:17
René Borg27/11/20210:59:41
Siobhan Brennan19/08/20231:00:01
Colm Kenna27/11/20211:01:47
Mark Willoughby19/08/20231:02:02
Annie Lowney19/08/20231:03:20
Eleanor Carty19/08/20231:06:51
Fiona Smyth17/08/20241:09:36

20K

Eoin Phelan banks race 42 this season…. (photo: Lindie Naughton)
AthleteDateTime
Torben Dahl18/08/20181:32:07 (Club record)
Torben Dahl17/08/20191:43:01
John Conway19/08/20231:43:19
Louis Byrne17/08/20241:46:12
Torben Dahl17/08/20241:46:35
John Conway17/08/20241:48:01
René Borg19/08/20231:48:49
Philip O’Brien19/08/20231:49:01
Graeme Warren19/08/20231:49:18
Torben Dahl19/08/20231:49:38
Kevin Doherty17/08/20241:51:19
Barry O’Neill18/08/20181:54:06
Jack Moore17/08/20241:54:45
Jack Moore19/08/20231:55:30
Loraine Creane19/08/20231:56:15 (Club record)
Eoin Phelan17/08/20241:59:12
Alan Kennedy19/08/20232:02:15
Ben Lewis19/08/20232:03:48
Ben Lewis17/08/20242:06:56
Andy Walker17/08/20242:10:21
Dave Lawless17/08/20242:11:01
Colm Kenna18/08/20182:15:04
Rebecca Whineray19/08/20232:22:00

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